Tuesday, 26 October 2010

These two lovely ladies are all set to start their new lives in Next. They are both destined for two branches of Next on Oxford Street - the Bond Street and Marble Arch shops. How exciting, I wonder what they will be used to display?

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They are tailored in Austen Natural and if you would like to see more pictures and details, just follow this link:

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

The village I live in has a lovely promenade of local shops and lots of Victorian and Edwardian buildings. The majority of it looks, I would imagine, quite unchanged from the early 1900s. The far end of it, however, suffered from the 60s habit of knocking down beautiful buildings and building featureless boxes.

The picture below shows Birkdale Town Hall and library as it looked in 1910 - beautifully well built, with stunning features - clearly a focal point of the village at the time. This lovely building was knocked down and replaced with ...

... this.

How could it have ever been allowed? At least now, thank goodness, there is a recognition of the value of old buildings to our heritige and this happens much less often.

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

I have decided on the giveaway prize! The first 300 people who 'like' the page will be entered into the draw to win a £170 gift voucher for the website. You can use this voucher to buy, or put towards, a mannequin of your choice. I know I'm aiming high, but hey, why not! So pass this onto friends and maybe you, or they, could have an early Christmas present. Or maybe you know someone who would like a mannequin for Christmas.

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Is it possible to become addicted to buying fabric?? I keep seeing gorgeous fabrics and think "Oooh, that would look great on a mannequin!" and then just have to buy some. I have an ever growing stock of fabrics and am slowly working through them to add new mannequins to the site.

I discovered Alexander Henry fabrics a few months ago now and just love his bold designs! This one is called 'Inked' and I think the scale of the design is just right on the mannequin - I'm really pleased with how she worked out.

I have some more of his fabrics in the collection and am now working on making them up into mannequins. It is so difficult to get a sense of scale when it is just a picture of the fabric, so I must get the mannequins in this collection completed. You can see more pictures of 'Inked' by following the link below:

Sunday, 10 October 2010

To celebrate the fact that I finally got around to adding Vintage Style Mannequins to Facebook, I am launching a

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FABULOUS FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY!!

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To be entered into the draw and have a chance to win all you have to do is 'like' the page. I haven't decided what to give away yet, but the more 'likers' the page gets, then the more fabulous the giveaway will be!

Saturday, 9 October 2010

So finally, today I got around to making a Facebook page for Vintage Style Mannequins. It's still a work in progress, but I'm so happy that I have made a start. With lots of orders to complete, it has been hard to find the time and so I set aside today to get the job done.

Click on the picture if you would like to take a look and I know I will be so excited if I get some 'likers'. If there is anything you think would be helpful to add to the page, your comments would be very welcome!

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

I've always thought that a pinstripe fabric would look great on a tailored male mannequin - very classic! I'm looking forward to finding new fabrics for my male mannequins and I think stripes suit them very well.

Saturday, 2 October 2010

I was browsing the internet last night and came across these wonderful old pictures of corset shops. I love old pictures and sometimes they don't seem quite real somehow. But this picture was only a moment in time for the ladies above and once the picture was taken, they went on with their daily lives. I wonder who they went on to serve that day, what their families were like and what it was like inside the shop.

The pictures above and below show corset departments on large department stores. Just look at the space and feeling of openess! How lovely to have the time to sit at one of the chairs at the long counters and be shown different corsets and look at the models. You can see all the boxes stacked behind the counter. I love the thought that some of the wasp waisted mannequins I have sold in the past may have started their lives in such a way. If only they could talk - what stories they could tell!

I love the picture below! Look at the curves on those mannequins. It is no wonder that so few of these kind of wasp waist mannequins remain, as they were usually covered in silk and were intended for daily practical use - not really a good combination for longevity!

If you are looking for the kind of female wasp waist dress forms you see above, then my new range of new wasp waist mannequins might be for you. See the new range here:

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

These wasp waist mannequins have been a long time coming! I have been wanting to reproduce antique French waspwaisted mannequins for some time now, but a combination of searching for just the right materials and completing orders (which have to take priority!) has meant that it has taken until now to launch them.

They have been formed from an original antique wasp waist Stockman torso from c1900 and they have a tiny 18.5 inch waist! My aim in producing these vintage styled mannequins was to replicate as closely as possible the tailoring and wood work of the originals. Most importantly, the torso itself is made in the original way and is a thick papier mache construction - so no foam or polystyrene.

It has been hard work and very much a labour of love - but worth it in the end! I can't wait to get my hands on new fabrics and make some more. There is such a wide choice of lovely fabrics at the moment, it's difficult to know where to start. If you have any ideas, then do get in touch. You can see more pictures by clicking the following link:

Saturday, 11 September 2010

The fabric of this lovely French Stockman wasp waist mannequin was extensively water stained when she came to me. A customer asked me to recover her, restoring her to how she must have looked when she was new, all those years ago.

I have used the Austen Natural fabric from the Natural Collection and tailored the fabric to replicate the original seam work exactly.

The original fabric is still underneath, incase someone in the future wants to take her back to her original condition.

It has been a lovely day today and everyone seemed to have the same idea and head to the local garden centre. I now have a nice selection of plants ready to be potted tomorrow. Hope the sun is shining like today!

Friday, 30 July 2010

I do love my job! I get to tailor mannequins for all kinds of lovely people, for many different situations, using great fabrics. It's very rewarding to know what they are going to be used for and many customers send me pictures and let me know. I put these on my 'Where Are They Now?' page http://www.vintagestylemannequins.co.uk/pages/where.htm

Pretty Green opens today on Carnaby street and a few of my male tailored mannequins get to have a brilliant view and watch the hustle and bustle of that busy iconic street.

Well, must get on ... in between completing current orders, I am planning on making new seat cushions for the garden furniture out of my ever growing pile of fabrics. If it ever stops raining, we might actually get chance to use them! Pictures to come soon ... hopefully!

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

How exciting! I was recently asked to tailor some male mannequins for 'Pretty Green', the classic British clothing range owned, founded and designed by Liam Gallagher. The new store is due to open on the 30th July 2010 and is situated in Carnaby Street - this 60s inspired print is perfect for such an iconic location!

I'm so pleased that my boys will get to be displayed in such a wonderful store ... hmmm ... I think a trip to London might be in store - it is the holidays after all!

You can buy your own male display mannequin, or have a mannequin tailored in your own fabric choice by following the link below:

Saturday, 5 June 2010

I have been meaning to add male mannequins to the collection for ages, but time just seems to run away - where does it go! So this week I set some time aside and am pleased to introduce my first male mannequin! Its always nice to try something new and I think they complement the female and child mannequins nicely - it feels like I have completed the family at last!

I am hoping to add to the collection over the coming weeks and find some exciting new fabrics. In addition to using my own fabrics, you can send me your own fabric to tailor your mannequin if you wish.

To see the new tailored male mannequins you can follow the link below: